Pattern-related visual stress

Since 2012, Dr Claire Hutchinson and colleagues at the University of Leicester have been quantifying vision-related problems in ME/CFS, with funding from ME Research UK and the Irish ME Trust.

Their latest short report, published in the journal Perception, shows that “pattern-related visual stress” is more marked in patients than healthy people. This is a form of visual hypersensitivity to patterns, such as a page of full of words, that causes print to appear distorted; print can appear to jump, there can be text swirling effects, and letters can double, fade or blur.